A “How To” Guide To Achieve Better Results As An Online Seller

If you’re a fresh college graduate or a person looking to start a venture with a relatively small capital requirement, online selling is the best entrepreneurship option on offer.

During the last decade or so, the increased use of smartphones and tablets has increased the interest of people towards the virtual marketplace. $ 1922 billion has been spent on purchases made online, alone in the United States and this amount is expected to jump to around $ 2356 billion in 2018, which shows the growth prospects of this industry. (Source Statista)

With online selling being the talk of the town these days, following are a few tips which can help you achieve better results as an online seller:

Carry Out a Comprehensive Market Research:

Market Research is an important aspect of online selling. Analysis of the performances of products which are similar to the product which you are planning to sale plays an important role at the time of making a decision about a product’s potential.

Scan the market and identify the bestselling products of the market. Also make an analysis of different tranches of the market and scrutinize your product portfolio accordingly. Don’t waste your investment on slow moving items and look for dynamic and easy-selling merchandise.

Keep Customer Satisfaction as your highest priority:

Product Reviews are vital in generating sales. Since you are not physically present yourself to endorse your product, product reviews perform this task for you. The algorithm of a number of online selling platforms is designed to rank the products on the basis of the ratings and reviews received by that product.

Identify negative reviews posted about your product. Negative Reviews can have a bad impression about your product on potential purchasers, hence listen to the concerns of your unhappy customers and maintain customer satisfaction as your highest priority. Review analysis is important as it shows the performance and brand-presence of the product among the audience.

Use Keywords And Describe Your Product Carefully:

Keywords determine your product ranking when a consumer searches for a particular product online. Research the best keywords and achieve better product rankings.

Product description must describe what your product is about and what does it offer. Since the product is not physically present for the consumer to check, hence any inconsistency in the product description and the product itself can result in high sales return rates and might even get you banned from selling online.

Evaluate Price Trends:

When it comes to online selling, festive or any other sales comprise a great part of revenue generated throughout the year. The evaluation of price trends gets really important here. Competitions are high when it comes to selling your product online. Keep an eye on the price trend of the products similar to yours and frame your pricing blueprints accordingly.

As witnessed, a dip in prices for certain products is recorded while the prices of certain products get doubled, especially during the “sales period”. This is where the scrutiny of price trend will help you in deciding whether you need to stock your product due to a higher return expectation or get it out in the market.

Maintain a diverse product portfolio:

Offer a wide range of products to the customers. This is where choosing the right niches work for you. While analyzing competition, niches analysis is vital, as it tells you the extent of competition for the product which you are looking to sell.

A product with a lesser niche would mean that the presence of competition for this product is low. Hence, the chances of the customer reaching your product will be higher. Hence, add niche products to your portfolio and witness the results getting better for you.

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Blogtrepreneur – For Busy Entrepreneurs

A “How To” Guide To Achieve Better Results As An Online Seller

Week 2: “How Do I Start A Business When I Don’t Have Any Time?”

It’s week 2 of my adventure in 2015 to start a business. I started out last week not knowing what kind of business I wanted to start. This week, I’m taking an introspective look at another common issue people have when they want to start a business–and one that plagues me as well! It’s all about the feeling of not having enough time to start a business.

Technically, I work part-time right now; I’m wrapping up a 3-month consulting gig with Help.com, building their launch plan, website copy, an ebook, and more. (My work will be live on Help.com soon!)

But, when you factor in my coworking space, this blog, finishing taxes and other miscellany of my business that failed/got acquired last year, and helping my boyfriend (who is also an entrepreneur) with his business, the hours I spend working pretty quickly ramp up to full-time.

So I’ve been exploring: How do you build a business when there are so many other things that compete for your time?

Most “Productivity Systems” Don’t Work. Here’s What Does.

And, after months of considering this and testing various “productivity systems”, I’ve come to a pretty simple conclusion. You do one thing every day that moves your business forward–and you don’t let anything stand in the way of getting that one thing done.

This doesn’t mean you don’t take any days off. Feel free to take a day off here or there. In fact, it looks an awful lot like the thing you do to get in shape, or to accomplish any other goal you have set for yourself. Want to get healthier? Walk 10 minutes a day. That’s it. (I often do this if I have to be on a conference call–I think best when I’m pacing, anyway, so it’s a good way to get my exercise.)

The same goes for your business. Want to start a business? Do one thing every day toward making that a reality. Have no idea what you want to start? Your one thing today may be going out to lunch with a local business owner and asking him or her what problems he or she faces–in business or in personal life!

Getting Coaching and Help: Surprisingly Valuable?

Or it could be taking a free, intro “deep coaching” call with a business coach. In this vein, I recently decided to do something that I felt was a bit risky: I asked my friend Rich Litvin to connect me with some of the best coaches he knows so I could do an introductory coaching call with all of them. It felt risky because I know how much coaches charge, and I’m unsure whether I want to commit to spending a lot of money on a coach. But then I thought, how could I ask people to spend money on me as a coach, as I did last year, if I don’t feel comfortable spending a similar amount?

So, between Rich’s intros and reaching out to friends of mine who are professional coaches, I put six in-depth intro calls on my calendar in just two weeks. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I have a call with a new coach.

The second coach I met with, John P. Morgan, when I told him about this, had one thing to say: “Wow! This is going to be a life-changing two weeks for you!” And now, about halfway through it, I’d have to agree.

I love that Rich introduced me to people who span the gamut of coaching, from people who’ve run successful businesses to executive coaches to artists like Allison Crow Flanigin, who is a painter and encouraged me to get in touch with my creative side and to bring more “me” into the world. I sort of feel silly saying this after I’ve already hung my shingle out as a coach and had paying clients, but I really get the value of coaching as a business leader now.

I’m glad I overcame my fear around this. At some point, I’ll hire a coach. Why? Because I’ll find the person or people who can propel me forward such that the coaching fee looks like peanuts compared to the value they provide. And if that sentence makes no sense to you, I strongly encourage you to do the same thing I did and schedule intro “deep sessions” with coaches until you find one or more of them who really opens you up and gets you going–and you realize that your creative efforts will be multiplied by hiring them. Honestly, all of the coaches I’ve worked with so far fit in that category. And if the money is a stretch, bring that into your coaching call. Work on creating enough value in the world that the money won’t be a stretch.

I probably sound like I’m writing a sales pitch for my own coaching here, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I coached full-time for a few months in 2014, and although I’d be happy to take a really special, rock star client here or there, it’s not my path to coach full-time. It’s my path to use what I learn from being a coach and apply that to a larger, wider audience: you!

Are You Really “Too Busy”?

One point of clarity that has come up for me through these coaching calls is that I’d like to create a product in 2015. What I want to create isn’t totally clear yet, but I want to work on something around teaching ADHD, super creative people how to get stuff done and launch something out in the world. Obviously that’s something I’m still working on doing myself this year!

Side note: It will be a great sales pitch–I chuckle every time I think about this. “Well, Erica,” some smartass will invariably say, “How do I know your course on Getting Sh*t Done for Highly Creative People will actually work for me?” And I will get the trump card of replying, “Because it exists! Yes, because I used the principles in the course to make the course itself!” Yes, the ultimate smartass comeback. This is what I think about at 1AM when I’m awake in my bed and my brain won’t shut off…comebacks to objections that don’t yet exist about a product that doesn’t yet exist. BlogThis!